Combined stock guard and passway



Dec. 20, 1927.

F. FRNKA COMBINED STOCK GUARD AND PASSWAY Filed Feb. 10, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l fim A/K 5m #04 Witness 61mm up Dec. 20, 1927.

F. FRNKA COMBINED STOCK GUARD AND PASSWAY 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 10, 1927 ,p"latfforrns in lowered position. v

Patented Dec. 20, 1927.

run! T ED TBS ;sqaenvlmst e GUABDAND, new

' I Application filed February 10,1927. Serial No. 167,283;

:The invention relates to improvements in structures adapted pr marily for use n .lences instead of using gates, or the purpose otperniitting automobiles and other of thejcnce} to the other, wheneifer desired. Asoine hatsi nilar device 1s shown by my U.:S. Patent No. 1,616,361, 0tFebruary 1st,

'o certain distinct improvements over the pa ed QQDSW U ajplurality of spacedbars over which cattle forother stock irill not vsfalk, but a platform is provided downwardly su ingable to ahoriand it is the principal object of the inven- .;tion to, provide notel ineanslt'or holding the plattorin loweredpolsit ionflvlien a vhorsejbac k rider or a horse-ch'awnyehicle is to pass; thereover, the vholding means howeyer being such that it is; released by the Weight ,jor theihorse or vehiclersothat the platform l c a .e r i tion, ,ii1 der I the influence inay: then again rise to its inoperativeiposi- H ofa Weight or or otl ier stock or Whfena, number of horse With the, foregoing and ninor objects in ,view, the invention resides the rioVeLsiib- Q ect mat er hereinafter described claimed, the description si pp'len ented li y the om yin ,dlr'a m Y .j'lligl is a perspect'yeqziew sho yin githe I E a 2 p rsp iv iiiewishq ing th p lat forins in their norinally raised positions.

Fig. 3 is av longitudinal sectional View Wlth the platforms raised in full dines and llelw ,ered in dotted lines. i

Fig.: 4 1s-a,,vert1cal transverse sectional :Fig. 5 is.,a ,fraginentar base, frame having p to .provider for holding ,the above-marr ed platfor nfholding' rneans against; release under the influencei'of Weight upon the platfor n, when a nuniber of'cattle ascent, upon passage vof any:weight:there-.

Fig; 6 is ii -fragmentary perspectiveview' of tlieparts illustrated in' Fig, 5.

In thedrawings above briefly.described,

illustrating one ad antageousfomnof construct on,- the DUiIlGIZIllO designates a rectangular base frame of anydesired size and -.proport1o11, wh ch franiemay be mounted 1n 'a gap of a fence 11, inayspana ditch or stream, or may be otherwise'located as oc- I I n p p p 1 casionjniay demand. and itwill of course be i927, and tl1e ,present application is directed,

under-stood that a'loundat-ion of any desired t'or1n may be used for this frame.

7 "Extendingtransversely of the frame- 10, below-thetob of the latter, I dispose a number of sills 12 whose ends are secured to the parallel side bars of saidframe. jjSupported upon these sills and eiitending longitudinally within theffraniei with their upper edges flush with the top ofthe latter, are a mum'- beri of spa'ced"parallelbars 13, ivhichbars; terminate in spaced relation Withjthe" end bars oftheframe 10 to provide openings 14, foriapurpose to appearj Brace blocks are secured upon the upper edges of the sills 12 between the longitudinal bars 13 and contact with these bars, most of said blocks (15) haying somewhat sharpened upper portions t'o prevent accumulationofdirt and the like. 7 although some of the blocks (16) near the transverse center-line of the frame 10, have flat upper surfaces 7 for a purpose to; appear.

and in'this connection, it will be observed jythat two of the sillsf12 are disposed near the transverse center of the frame, the space be "tween these sills, adjacent the ends of the Y latterfbefing spanned by said blocks 16. "Securedupon these blocks 16 and the flush portions of a nurnber'o'f'the bars;13, aerate boards 17 which, are soinewhat'tr iangular,

Vforrnsi' hereinafter described. Extending transversely across the interniediate'sil1s13 and abutting the'inner ends of the footboards 17 latch-supporting bar 18, Mounted upon this bar, is any desiredform ina y well rest witli practicallyino friction, upon the raised central portion fof-a" suitable vWasher This latch 19 is'normally held due to. the preferredshaping ofcertain plat ieeieee e Wend e e eiedeeim iflw bar 18, under the influence of a cable 22, a weight 23 thereon, and a pulley 24:. This pulley 24 is mounted in an appropriate open ing 25 in the bar 18, the cable 22 passes over said pulley and is connected at one end with one end of the latch 19 and the otherend of the cable depends from the pulley and is provided with the weight 23. The opening -25 is of such size that the weight may be stating that I am not operate within the openings 14.

these welghts are not sufficiently heavy to,

upwardly drawn therethrough in case repairs or replacement of the cable are necessary, and in case this cable should break, the

weight'is held against excessive dropping, by

.a safety cable 26. Between the pulley 24c and-the latch 19, the cable 22 passes through an appropriate cable-guide 27 which prepreferably consisting of planks suitably se-.

cured to longitudinal sills 30, which sills are secured to transverse rock shafts 31. These rock shafts have their ends mounted in appropriate bearings 32, by which they are confined to positions outwardly spaced to" some extent from the ends of the sills 13, the latter being beveled as shown.

The sillsSO not only project in one direction from the shafts 31 to support the planks or the like of the platforms, but said sills project also in theopposite direction from said shafts and carry weights 33 which preferably consist of boxes filled with earth, These weights are sufligravel orthe like. ciently heavy to normally swing the platforms 29 upwardly tothe position of Fig. 2.; and it will be observed that said weights However,

prevent easy downward swinging of the platforms by hand, when this is desired.

The planlrs or the like-of the platforms 29 are of sufficient length toprevent the front wheels of a horse-drawn vehicle from leaving said platforms before the rear. wheels move upon them. and the inner corners of these platforms are cut away as indicated at 34. so that as said platforms swing upwardly, they will not ordinarily strike the rearwardly projecting end of' a. wagon.

bedor other part of a vehicle. The edges of these cutaway portions or notches 34 however, disposed transversely of the base frame 10 when lowered, are preferably obllquely disposed as at 35 to prevent catching imity to theedges of the footboards 17 and thelatch supporting bar 18, and they may be held in this downwardly swung position, by manually turningthe latch 19 to the position of Fig. 1, in which it overlies both of said platforms. These platforms are swung downwardly by hand, that 1s either one or both of them are swung downwardly as occasion may demand. and while placing his weight upon one of the footboards 17 or the bar 18. the person operating the device swings the latch tothe position of Fig. 1,.

and the action of the weights 33tendirig to 1 swing the platforms upwardly, will holdthe' latter againstsaid latch witlf sufiicient'frid tionto hold the latter in operative position, against the action of the weight- 23. After setting the device in this manneigassuming that the person who has setit, is the rider of a horse or the driver of a horse-drawn ve- .horseor the horse-drawn vehicle is received bythe aforesaid platform or platforms 29, depression of the latter will take place, re lieving the frictional contact thereof with the latch 19, the result being that the weight 23 and cable 22 then immediately come into play to swing said latch to the released position. of Fig. 2. Thus. as soon as the horse or the horse-drawn vehicle leaves the plat form. or platforms. the latter will be immediately raised under the influence of the weighted means provided for that purpose: Hence. the entire device now remains in condition to prevent the passage of stock from one side of the fence or the like to'thc other and it is not necessary for the rid-er ordriver to'again dismount and go back to condition the device in this manner.

When one or both of the platforms 29 are to be held lowered. while a number of horseback riders, horse-drawn vehicles, stock, etc. are passingthereover, the latch 19may be held against release. For this purpose. I have showna locking pin 37 insert-ible through appropriate openings 38 in the latch and the inner edges of the platforms. This locking pinIis-preferably carried by a short lengthof cable orchain 39 to preventloss.

From the foregoing. taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. itwill be seen that I have provided a rather simple and inexpensive, yet an eiiicient and very desirable device for the purposes'set forth. and while the details herein disclosed. 'may be followed if desired, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than limiting, in most respects. In this connection, it may be stated that while two platforms are preferably employed in the cons-truction ofthe device, it is of course only embody one depressible platform, which a would of course be of sufficient size to cover rality of transverse sills secured to the side possible to use such construction as to,

the bars 13 when lowered.

I claim:

1. A combined stock guard and passway comprising a base having spaced members to prevent stock from walking thereover, a

platform pivotally mounted for downward swinging against the base, means exerting. a force on said platform tending to swing it upwardly from the base, and means for holding said platform depressed while a. vehicle or a horse-back rider moves onto the same, provision being made for automaticah ly releasing said holding means while the vehicle or rider is thereon, whereby said platform may rise to its normal position after passage thereover of the vehicle or rider. I

2. A combined stock guard and passwav com risin a base havin sraced members to prevent stock. from alking thereover, a

platform pivotally mounted for downward swinging against the base, means exerting a.

force on said platform-tending to swing it upwardly from the base, and means releasable by maXimum depression of said platform for holding it in a lowered position substantially horizontal but slightly above.

its maximum lowered position;

3. A combined stock guard and passway comprising a base having spacedmembers to prevent stock from walking thereover,a platform pivotally mounted for downward swinging against the base, means exertmg a force on said platform tending to swing it upwardly from thebase, projectable and retractable means for holding the plat form in a substantially horizontal position.

slightly above its maximum lowered vposition, said holding means being freed by maximum depression of theplatform, and

means operatively connected with said holding means for retracting it to released position upon freeing of said holding means.

4;. A combined stock guard and passway comprising a base having spaced members to platform pivotally mounted for downward swinging against the base, means exerting a force on said platform tending to swing it upwardly from the base, a projectable and retractable latch mounted on the base and projectable over a portion of the plat-.

prevent stock from walking thereover, a

form tohold the latter. in a substantially is freed by maximum depression ofthe platform.

5. A combined stock guard and passway comprising a rectangular base frame, a plubars of said base frame below the upper edges of, the latter, a plurality of =longitu-' dinal spaced bars secured upon said sills and terminating short of the'end bars of sald base frame, two downwardly and in--.

wardly swingable platforms pivoted to the end portions of the base frame on trans verse axes, weights carried by said platforms and operablein the spaces between said end bars and the ends of said longitudi-- nal bars to exert a raising force on the platforms, a. transverse member secured upon said longitudinal bars and received between the platforms when the latter are lowered, latch means mounted, on said transverse member andprojectable in opposite directions therefrom to engage the platforms and hold them against ascent when said platforms are substantially horizontal but slightly above their maximum'lowered positions, said latch meansbeing freed by maximum depression of the platforms, and

means connected operativelywith said latch meansfor retracting the same to inopera tive position uponfreeing of said latch means. i a 6. A structure as specified in claim 5; said latch means consisting of a horizontal latch bar and a vertical pivot connecting its central portion with said transverse member." V

' 7. A structure as specified in claim 1; to-

gether with means for holding said plat form-holdmg means against release whendesired;

8. In a combined stock guard and passway, a pair of inwardly and downwardly swingable self-raising platforms across which a horse drawn vehicle may pass when lowered, said platforms having theirinner corners formed with notches to lessen liability of striking the vehicle body as the platforms rise upon passing of the vehicle, said notches having oblique edges which occupy inclined positions as said platforms rise, overcoming liability of catching on the vehicle if striking the same. 1

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

FRANK FRNKA. 

